The unveiling of the all-new 2016 Toyota Prius is expected this year, which would quell rumors that the automaker's bread-and-butter hybrid has been delayed.

Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, would not provide specific timing but hinted strongly the car will be shown soon. Lentz met with media today in York Township for the groundbreaking of an expansion of the Toyota Technical Center near Ann Arbor.

Lentz noted the last three generations of the Prius have averaged a six-year life cycle and the current model was introduced in 2009, which suggests the fourth generation is coming this year. It could debut this fall at the Tokyo or Los Angeles auto shows.

"I have driven it. It's fantastic," Lentz said, adding the new Prius is better looking and handling, with a lower center of gravity. The design could incorporate cues from the Toyota C-HR concept crossover shown at the 2014 Paris auto show.

The Prius was developed in Japan and is the first vehicle since Toyota introduced a new product development strategy known as Toyota New Global Architecture or TNGA to better leverage the global scale of one of the world's largest automakers.

The 2016 Prius also has better fuel economy than the outgoing model which achieved 50 m.p.g. in combined city and highway driving. But he said media reports of a 15% improvement are not accurate — they are too high.

Current low gasoline prices have cut hybrid sales across the industry by about 15%, Lentz said, and Prius sales are down 14%.

But the automaker has no intention of backing off or slowing down development of future hybrids. Gas prices will eventually increase and with it, demand for the hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles under development, he said.\